Zhao Ke

Zhao An understood immediately upon hearing this.

His nominal older brother had set his sights on the money in his possession this time.

"Brother Zhao, rest assured, I didn't say anything, nor did I reveal a single thing," Li Gou'er added afterward.

He was much sharper than Zhao Chunzi in this regard; knowing that this older brother harbored ill intentions, he kept his mouth shut tight.

"Mm." After hearing this, Zhao An didn't say much more and walked straight into the inner room.

He did not care about that brother's intentions, nor did he have any affection for him whatsoever.

If anyone dared to reach for his belongings, they had better be prepared to have their hands chopped off.

His gaze fell upon the Soul Pool; a day had passed, and the enslavement period for a few more Soul Slaves had expired.

There were four in total, all backbone members of the Python Gang during their lifetimes, each with only a one-year enslavement period.

Zhao An had no great use for keeping them, so he used them all for blade practice yesterday.

After absorbing the results of these four practice sessions, it must be said that although none of them were of long duration, when combined, they still provided a certain improvement to his blade technique.

The third realm of the Fierce Tiger Blade was already nearly perfected, and he had even vaguely touched the threshold of the fourth realm.

And the most crucial part was the cultivation of his internal energy; the hundred wisps of Internal Breath that originally wandered through his body had increased by twenty or thirty in an instant!

The gradual thickening of his Internal Breath made his entire body feel light and airy.

He walked with a spring in his step, and every movement he made felt full of power!

His breath was even more sustained, and his stamina was extremely high.

After finishing another bowl of Red Blood Root decoction, Zhao An felt his whole body burning with heat.

He enjoyed this feeling of his strength constantly climbing.

The next day.

Zhao Ke, dressed in his official uniform and wearing a soft-winged cap, arrived once again at the busy street where Zhao An resided, kicking open the courtyard gate with an expressionless face.

"Which bastard is kicking the door!" Li Gou'er shouted angrily as he ran out upon hearing the commotion.

The moment he saw Zhao Ke in his official uniform, his original look of rage vanished instantly.

"Master Zhao..."

"Why have you come..."

Before Li Gou'er could finish his sentence, he was slapped to the ground by Zhao Ke.

"You blind fool!"

Li Gou'er gritted his teeth; he dared not say anything aloud, but in his heart, he cursed Zhao Ke from head to toe.

Back when they fled their village together, they had struggled to survive in Lianjiang City.

Now that he had risen to prominence and become an official, he had completely forgotten the bond they shared as fellow villagers.

He didn't even acknowledge his own biological brother, Zhao An.

If there were a model for being heartless and ungrateful, the first person he would think of was this Zhao Ke!

"Don't tell me that brat Zhao An has already left early in the morning again!" Zhao Ke said irritably.

The door to the inner room pushed open, and Zhao An looked at Li Gou'er on the ground, his brows furrowing.

His gaze then fell upon Zhao Ke.

The official uniform of a constable and the clerk's cap on his head were indeed eye-catching.

Even though the government's control over the region was far less than it used to be, an official was still an official.

This official skin still held a natural suppressive power over ordinary commoners.

Zhao Ke focused his gaze, scanning Zhao An up and down; the words that had been on the tip of his tongue swirled around in his mouth before he swallowed them back down.

In the past, it had been quite easy for him to manipulate his own younger brother.

But today, the feeling Zhao An gave him was very strange.

Like a long blade half-drawn from its scabbard, the sharpness revealed was almost pricking his face.

He wanted to put on the airs of an older brother once more, only to find that he inexplicably felt a lack of confidence.

It wasn't that his conscience had been pricked or that he felt he owed Zhao An; rather, deep in his heart, he was wary of a ruthless man capable of slaughtering his way through the Python Gang!

"Do you have any idea what a huge mess you've stirred up!" Zhao Ke stepped closer, his tone carrying a hint of reproach.

"Are you here to arrest me?" Zhao An asked in a flat tone.

He had considered the government's reaction; although the Python Gang were all villains, murder was indeed against the law. If the government were truly alarmed, they might not let him off.

If that were truly the case, he would no longer be able to stay in this city.

"Regardless of anything else, you are my own brother; how could I be willing to arrest you!" Zhao Ke shook his head and slapped his official Official Blade onto the stone table.

"It's just that if the County Magistrate gives the order, then even if I am unwilling, it will be of no use. The County Commandant and the County Soldiers are not under my command."

Zhao An understood upon hearing this; he was being intimidated.

Sure enough, after Zhao Ke finished his sighing and complaining, he changed the subject: "You came out of the Python Gang headquarters, so you must have taken Xu Donglai's money. Do you have any extra?"

Seeing that Zhao An did not answer, Zhao Ke continued.

"Give this money to me, and I will pull some strings with the officials for you; this matter will naturally be easy to handle."

"Of course, if you don't want to do it this way, then just pretend I never said anything today. Don't blame your brother for not warning you if something happens in the future."

"Then I will pretend you never said anything," Zhao An nodded and said.

Hearing this, the corners of Zhao Ke's mouth twitched, and his expression turned ugly.

In the past, he could fool this little brother into spinning in circles with just a few words.

But today, it wasn't working.

"Is this money more important than your life? Aren't you afraid you won't have a life to spend it later?" Zhao Ke snorted coldly, his patience wearing thin.

"That won't require your concern. I will spend this money happily enough on my own," Zhao An chuckled.

Zhao Ke fell silent, feeling a bit embarrassed, and suddenly said: "I haven't seen you in a long time. I don't know how much your skills have improved. Since it's a rare occasion today, let's spar."

After saying that, he stood up, took his blade, and stood firm in the courtyard.

"I'm afraid blades have no eyes," Zhao An also stood up. Despite saying that, he had already walked over.

"Less talk, just come if I tell you to!" Zhao Ke shouted in a low voice, drawing his Official Blade as he spoke.

Li Gou'er had sharp eyes and knew that Zhao An also wanted to fight. Without waiting for Zhao An to speak, he nimbly brought out Zhao An's Big Ring Blade.

Zhao An held the blade in his hand, his expression calm and composed, waiting for Zhao Ke to attack first.

Zhao Ke's eyes sharpened. He didn't stand on ceremony, stomped his feet, and charged straight ahead.

He raised his hand and slashed out with his blade. The edge was fierce, showing no intention of holding back.

He had been calculating, wanting to test Zhao An's true ability.

If Zhao An truly had the strength to slaughter his way through the Python Gang, then he would have to give up on the money.

But if Zhao An was just bluffing, he would definitely teach him a lesson and then take the money from his hands.

Facing Zhao Ke's strike, Zhao An only felt it was mediocre.

He knew that Zhao Ke had become a Martial Master; otherwise, he wouldn't be able to serve as a constable in the outer city, and his blade technique came from the government.

But even so, Zhao Ke had only been a Martial Master for a few years.

Looking at Zhao An, how many Soul Slaves had been poured into the Fierce Tiger Blade Art? The combined training time added up to more than a dozen years!

And those ten-plus years were the tireless, sleepless, bitter training of Soul Slaves.

If they really clashed, how could this Zhao Ke be his opponent!

After just one exchange, Zhao Ke only felt a flash of silver light pass before his eyes. His heart tightened violently, and for a moment, he even felt a sense of panic.

The blade Zhao An used to respond was simply too fast—it was faster than he could have ever imagined!

Under the collision, his long blade flew out of his hand instantly.

And Zhao An's Big Ring Blade did not lose momentum, heading straight for his head!

"I'm dead!"

At that moment, his mind was filled with the image of this Big Ring Blade slicing his skull open.

Fortunately, in the end, Zhao An retracted his strength with ease, only slapping the back of the blade against the side of Zhao Ke's face.

Slap!

A crisp sound rang out, like a loud slap to the face.

Zhao Ke stumbled and fell to the ground, his expression a mix of shock and the lingering fear of having survived.

He subconsciously reached out to touch that side of his face, feeling a burning, stinging pain.

"Blades have no eyes; I couldn't hold back my strength." Zhao An picked up the Official Blade from the ground and handed it back to Zhao Ke, but he did not help him up, nor was there any intention of apologizing in his words.

Li Gou'er, not far away, was startled when he saw this scene, but then felt incredibly gratified.

"Serves you right!"

He felt full of gratitude toward Zhao An; his big brother had just avenged the slap Zhao Ke had given him earlier.